Order fulfillment systems and methods with customer location tracking

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and apparatus are disclosed that provide a pickup process for items purchased from a store. In some embodiments, a mobile computing device of a customer may determine whether the mobile computing device and therefore the customer are in a pickup zone for a store. In response to determining that the mobile computing device is in the pickup zone, the mobile computing device may notify the customer and request whether the customer wishes to initiate pickup of purchased items from the store. The mobile computing device may notify a merchandise pickup system of the customer&#39;s desire to pickup the purchased items.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/831,218, filed Aug. 20, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/923,695, filed Jun. 21, 2013, now abandoned. Theabove-identified applications are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of order fulfillment and, morespecifically, to services associated with picking-up ordered items.

BACKGROUND

Customers commonly purchase items such as goods and/or services fromvarious brick-and-mortar establishments such as retail stores, grocerystores, consumer electronic boutiques, etc. When purchasing items fromsuch establishments, a customer often selects and places such items in ashopping cart or basket. After placing items in their shopping cart, thecustomer then proceeds to a checkout lane where a sales associate scanseach item into a point of sale terminal in order to determine the totalpurchase price for the selected items. The sales associate collectspayment from the customer and provides the customer with a sales receiptor another form showing proof of purchase for the selected and paid foritems. After checking out via one of the provided checkout lanes, thecustomer is then free to leave the brick-and-mortar establishment withthe purchased items.

A similar process is commonly used by customers that purchase items fromvarious on-line establishments. When purchasing items from suchestablishments, a customer instead of placing items in a physicalshopping cart places such items in a virtual shopping cart. Afterplacing items in their virtual shopping cart, the customer may thenproceed with checkout which determines the total purchase price for theitems selected by the customer, collects payment for the selected items,and arranges for delivery of such items to the customer. Commonly,delivery to the customer takes the form of shipping the items to anaddress specified by the customer. Moreover, such shipping is commonlyat the customer's expense.

The above conventional brick-and-mortar and on-line shopping processesmay be effective. However, there is still room for improving suchprocesses to provide unique shopping experiences and strengthen customerloyalty.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods directed to an order fulfillment process aresubstantially shown in and/or described in connection with at least oneof the figures, and are set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of illustrated embodiments thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an order fulfillment system in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified depiction of a example computing device foruse in the system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 shows a process implemented by an example embodiment of thee-commerce system of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 shows a process implemented by an example embodiment of themobile computing device of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 shows a process implemented by an example embodiment of themerchandise pickup system of FIG. 1 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Some disclosed embodiments are directed to fulfillment of customerorders and, in particular, delivering and/or otherwise providing ordereditems such as goods and/or services to a customer. More specifically,some disclosed embodiments leverage mobile devices, such as cellularphones, smart phones, tablet devices, etc., that are commonly in thepossession of customers to detect a customer's location. The detectedcustomer location may be utilized by an order fulfillment process toassist in providing and/or otherwise delivering items to the customer ina timely manner.

Various embodiments are described in the context of a customer orderingitems from a retail store and picking-up the ordered items from a pickuplocation of the retail store. However, some aspects of the disclosedembodiments may also apply to other types of businesses such asdepartment stores, consumer malls, grocery stores, service centers,repair centers, e-commerce sites, shipping services, etc. Embodiments,for use in such contexts, are envisioned and protection for suchembodiments is sought to the extent encompassed by the appended claims.

Today's consumers demand convenience, speed, and selection from theirretailers regardless of whether such consumers are shopping online orare shopping in a brick-and-mortar establishment. The followingdescribes various ways a mobile computing device such as a tablet, smartphone, mobile phone, personal data assistant, hand-held gaming console,or some other form of mobile computing device may be used to supportdelivery of purchased items. To this end, a high level system diagram ofan order fulfillment system 10 is depicted in FIG. 1 . As shown, theorder fulfillment system 10 may include a mobile computing device 20connected to an e-commerce system 30 and merchandise pickup (MPU) system58 via one or more networks 40. The networks 40 may include a number ofprivate and/or public networks such as, for example, wireless and/orwired LAN networks, cellular networks, and the Internet thatcollectively provide a communication path and/or paths between themobile computing devices 20, e-commerce system 30, and MPU system 58.

The mobile computing devices 20 may include tablets, smart phones,mobile phones, personal data assistants, hand-held gaming consoles,and/or other forms of mobile computing devices which enable a user tocommunicate with the e-commerce system 30 and/or MPU system 58 via thenetwork 40. As shown, the mobile computing device 20 may furthermaintain a virtual shopping cart 22 in which a customer may place itemsfor later purchase. Moreover, the mobile computing device 20 may includea curbside pickup application 24. The curbside pickup application 24comprises instructions that, in response to being executed by the mobilecomputing device 20, cause the mobile computing device 20 to performvarious tasks associated with the processes described in detail belowwith respect to FIGS. 3-5 . In some example embodiments, the mobilecomputing device 20 may download the curbside pickup application 24 fromvarious online application stores. Moreover, while depicted in FIG. 1 asa separate application, a larger application that provides additionalfunctionality beyond supporting the processes of FIGS. 3-5 may includethe curbside pickup application 24.

In one embodiment, the network 40 may include a number of WiFi accesspoints (AP) or base stations 42 distributed throughout abrick-and-mortar store 50. Such WiFi base stations 42 may providewireless network connectivity to mobile computing devices 20 used withinthe brick-and-mortar store 50, and thus permit such mobile computingdevices 20 to wirelessly communicate with e-commerce system 30 vianetwork 40.

The e-commerce system 30 may include one or more web servers, databaseservers, routers, load balancers, and/or other computing and/ornetworking devices. The e-commerce system 30 may maintain customerprofiles 32 for various customers that utilize the shopping servicesprovided by the order fulfillment system 10. Moreover, the e-commercesystem 30 may maintain various information 34 regarding products oritems 53 for sale by the brick-and-mortar store 50. Furthermore, thee-commerce system 30 may provide one or more online storefronts 36 thatpermit customers to purchase items 53 using a computing device. In someembodiments, one or more of the storefronts 36 are publicly accessiblevia a public network such as the Internet thus permitting customers topurchase items 53 from such storefronts 36 from the comfort of theirhomes or from other locations. In some embodiments, one of more of thestorefronts 36 are not publicly accessible but limited to computingdevices such as kiosk 56 within the store 50.

As shown, the brick-and-mortar store 50 may include the WiFi basestations 42, point of sale (POS) terminals 51, and the MPU system 58.The MPU system 58 may include one or more web servers, database servers,routers, load balancers, and/or other computing and/or networkingdevices. As explained in greater detail below with respect to theprocesses of FIGS. 3-5 , the MPU system 58 may assist in the delivery ofpurchased items 53 to a customer's vehicle 66 positioned at a curbsidepickup location 64 in a pickup zone 62 of the store 50.

The store 50 may further include numerous items 53, which are on displayfor purchase by customers of the store 50. For example, the store 53 mayinclude shelves, clothing racks, tables, and/or other assemblies uponwhich items 53 may be placed in a customer accessible manner so that thecustomer may physically interact with the items 53. More specifically,the store 53 may display the items 53 in a manner which permits acustomer to pickup the items 53 they want to purchase and place them ina shopping basket or wheeled shopping cart. The customer may then carrythe items 53 to a POS terminal 51 where a store associate may scan code54 of the selected items 53, determine a total purchase price for theselected items 53, and receive payment from the customer for theselected items 53. Besides supporting sales via POS terminals 51, thestore 50 may further permit the sale of items 53 via mobile computingdevice 20, kiosks 56, and/or one or more online storefronts 36 providedby the e-commerce system 30.

FIG. 1 depicts the order fulfillment system 10 at a high level, theorder fulfillment system 10, however, may be implemented in numerousdifferent manners using a wide range of different computing devices,platforms, networks, etc. Moreover, aspects of the order fulfillmentsystem 10 may be implemented using a client/server architecture, apeer-to-peer (P2P) architecture, and/or another networking architecture.

In some embodiments, the mobile computing device 20, the e-commercesystem 30, POS terminals 51, kiosks 56, and/or MPU system 58 may beimplemented using various types of computing devices. FIG. 2 provides asimplified depiction of a computing device 70 suitable for such aspectsof order fulfillment system 10. As shown, the computing device 70 mayinclude a processor 71, a memory 73, a mass storage device 75, a networkinterface 77, and various input/output (I/O) devices 79. The processor71 may be configured to execute instructions, manipulate data andgenerally control operation of other components of the computing device70 as a result of its execution. To this end, the processor 71 mayinclude a general purpose processor such as an x86 processor or an ARMprocessor which are available from various vendors. However, theprocessor 71 may also be implemented using an application specificprocessor and/or other circuitry.

The memory 73 may include various types of random access memory (RAM)devices, read only memory (ROM) devices, flash memory devices, and/orother types of volatile or non-volatile memory devices. In particular,such memory devices of the memory 73 may store instructions and/or datato be executed and/or otherwise accessed by the processor 71. In someembodiments, the memory 73 may be completely and/or partially integratedwith the processor 71.

In general, the mass storage device 75 may store software and/orfirmware instructions which may be loaded in memory 73 and executed byprocessor 71. The mass storage device 75 may further store various typesof data which the processor 71 may access, modify, and/otherwisemanipulate in response to executing instructions from memory 73. To thisend, the mass storage device 75 may comprise one or more redundant arrayof independent disks (RAID) devices, traditional hard disk drives (HDD),sold state device (SSD) drives, flash memory devices, read only memory(ROM) devices, and/or other types of non-volatile storage devices.

The network interface 77 may enable the computing device 70 tocommunicate with other computing devices via network 40. To this end,the networking interface 77 may include a wired networking interfacesuch as an Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) interface, a wireless networkinginterface such as a WiFi (IEEE 802.11) interface, a radio or mobileinterface such as a cellular interface (GSM, CDMA, LTE, etc) or nearfield communication (NFC) interface, and/or some other type ofnetworking interface capable of providing a communications link betweenthe computing device 70 and network 40 and/or another computing device.

Finally, the I/O devices 79 may generally provide devices which enable auser to interact with the computing device 70 by either receivinginformation from the computing device 70 and/or providing information tothe computing device 70. For example, the I/O devices 79 may includedisplay screens, keyboards, mice, touch screens, microphones, audiospeakers, digital cameras, optical scanners, RF transceivers, etc.

While the above provides some general aspects of a computing device 70,those skilled in the art readily appreciate that there may besignificant variation in actual implementations of a computing device.For example, a smart phone implementation of a computing devicegenerally uses different components and may have a differentarchitecture than a database server implementation of a computingdevice. However, despite such differences, computing devices generallyinclude processors that execute software and/or firmware instructions inorder to implement various functionality. As such, the above describedaspects of the computing device 70 are not presented from a limitingstandpoint but from a generally illustrative standpoint. The presentapplication envisions that aspects of the present application may findutility across a vast array of different computing devices and theintention is not to limit the scope of the present application to aspecific computing device and/or computing platform beyond any suchlimits that may be found in the appended claims.

In some embodiments, the mobile computing device 20 may include one ormore I/O devices 79 suitable for identifying an item 53 which thecustomer wishes to purchase. For example, the mobile computing device 20may include a digital image sensor (e.g., a digital camera), an opticalscanner, an RF transceiver, a near field communication (NFC)transceiver, and/or some other device suitable for reading, scanning,and/or imaging codes 54 associated with items 53. In such embodiments,the customer may select items 53 and place them in their virtual cart 22by reading, scanning, imaging, etc. various codes 54 associated with theitems 53. In particular, the mobile computing device 20 may supportreading, scanning, and/or imaging a large variety of codes such as barcodes, Universal Product Codes (UPC) codes, Quick Response (QR) codes,Augmented Reality (AR) codes, radio-frequency identification (RFID)tags, near field communication (NFC) codes. Moreover, such codes 54 maybe attached to the item 53, to tags or labels that are attached to theitem 53, and/or tags or labels that are otherwise associated with theitem 53. For example, such codes 54 may be placed upon display signs forthe item 53, shelf tags for the item 53, or at some other localeassociated with the item 54 so that the customer may readily scan, read,or image such codes 54 with the mobile computing device 20.

Besides using the mobile computing device 20 to select items 53 andplace such items in a virtual cart 22, the customer may also use themobile computing device 20 to purchase the items in their virtual cart22. For example, the customer may enter credit card and/or other paymentinformation via the mobile computing device 20. The mobile computingdevice 20 may transmit such information to the e-commerce system 30which may verify payment information and provide the mobile computingdevice 20 with one or more proofs of purchase (e.g., a digital receipt,bar codes, etc.) for the items 53 in the virtual cart 22.

In some embodiments, the customer may choose a manner of fulfillment foreach item in their virtual cart 22. In particular, the customer in oneembodiment may choose whether a particular item 53 is to be provided tothe customer via curbside pickup or shipped to the customer's address.In particular, the mobile computing device 20 may request the customerto choose a fulfillment option for each item 53 as its placed in theirvirtual cart 22 (e.g., as the customer scans the bar code associatedwith each item). Since such constant queries may become tedious to thecustomer, the mobile computing device 20 may assume a defaultfulfillment option (e.g., curbside pickup) for each item 53 unless thecustomer indicates a different option for the item 53. The mobilecomputing device 20 may further permit the customer to choose thedefault fulfillment option and/or permit the customer to set afulfillment option for the complete order. In some embodiments, themobile computing device 20 may permit the customer to review and revisethe fulfillment option for each item 53 in the virtual cart 22 as partof the checkout process.

In some embodiments, the I/O devices 79 of the mobile computing device20 may include a geographic positioning system (GPS) receiver to permitthe mobile computing device 20 to determine its global position. Inparticular, the GPS receiver may be configured to receive signals fromGPS satellites 46 and ascertain the geographic position of the GPSreceiver based on such received GPS satellite signals. In otherembodiments, the I/O devices 79 of the mobile computing device 20 maynot include a GPS receiver, but the mobile computing device 20 may beable to determine its position nonetheless. For example, as noted above,the network interface 77 may include a cellular interface (GSM, CDMA,LTE, etc). Such a cellular interface may permit the mobile computingdevice 20 to receive signals from various cell towers 44. Based on knownpositions of the cell towers 44 and the signals received from suchtowers 44, the mobile computing device 20 may be able to discern itsposition (e.g., using triangulation).

As mentioned above, the order fulfillment system 10 may support orprovide various features that attempt to enhance and/or otherwiseimprove a customer's shopping experience. To this end, the orderfulfillment system 10 may provide curbside pickup for purchased items.In particular, the order fulfillment system 10 may support curbsidepickup for items purchased in a brick-and-mortar store 50 and/or itemspurchased via an on-line storefront associated with the brick-and-mortarstore 50. As explained below, the order fulfillment system 10 may causeitems to be delivered to a customer's vehicle 66 without the customerentering the store 50.

FIG. 3 shows a process 300 that may be implemented by an exampleembodiment of the e-commerce system 30. Per the process 300, thee-commerce system 30 may permit a customer to purchase items 53 forcurbside pickup at a selected store 50. To this end, the e-commercesystem 30 at 305 may receive a customer's selection of one or more items53 for purchase. In particular, a customer may use a computing device 70to interact with a storefront 36 of the e-commerce system 30 and placeitems 53 in a virtual shopping cart 22 maintained by the computingdevice 70 and/or the e-commerce system 50. The computing device 70 maybe external to the store 50 such as a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop,a desktop, or another computing device capable of communicating with astorefront 36 that is accessible via a public network such as theInternet. The computing device 70 used by the customer may alternativelybe in the store 50 such as a mobile computing device 20 carried by thecustomer, a POS terminal 51, and/or kiosk 56. In such a situation, thein-store computing device 70 may access a publicly-accessible storefront36 of the e-commerce system 30 that is also accessible from locationsexternal to the store 50 and/or may access a private storefront 36 ofthe e-commerce system 30 that is accessible only to computing devices 70in or in close proximity to the store 50.

After the customer selects items 53 for purchase, the e-commerce system30 at 310 may initiate a checkout process in response to receiving anindication from the customer via a computing device 70 that the customeris ready to purchase the selected items 53 and finalize the purchase.During the checkout process, the e-commerce system 30 may confirmpayment of the items 53 as well as confirm other information fordelivering the purchased items 53 to the customer.

At block 315, the e-commerce system 30 may determine whether thecustomer is a member. As depicted, the e-commerce system 30 may makesuch determination after initiating the checkout process. In otherembodiments, a member may manually and/or automatically login uponvisiting the storefront 36. The e-commerce system 30, in suchembodiments, may determine whether the customer is a registered memberof the storefront 36 prior to initiating the checkout process.

If the e-commerce system 30 at 315 determines the that the customer isnot a registered member, then the e-commerce system 30 at 320 may askthe customer via the computing device 70 whether the customer would liketo become a registered member. If the e-commerce system 30 receives aresponse indicating that the customer does not wish to become a member,then the e-commerce system 30 may proceed with an anonymous and/or guestcheckout process at 335 which permits the customer to finalize thepurchase without joining the storefront 36 or becoming a registeredmember.

Otherwise, the e-commerce system 30 may collect information from thecustomer via the computing device 70 and create a customer profile 32based on the collected information. For example, the e-commerce system30 may collect name, shipping address, billing address, paymentinformation, email address, user name, password, and/or otherinformation from which to establish the customer profile 32.

After determining the customer is a member at 315 or creating a profile32 for the newly joined member at 325, the e-commerce system 30 at 330may ask whether the purchased items 53 are to be delivered via curbsidepickup. Such an inquiry may be part of a checkout process in which thecustomer selects a form of delivery for the entire order and/orindividually selects a form of delivery for each purchased item 53.Moreover, in one embodiment, curbside pickup is a service offered onlyto members and thus not presented to customers that elect to forgomembership. However, in other embodiments, the e-commerce system 30 mayoffer curbside pickup to customers that are not registered members.

If the customer does not select curbside pickup for any of the purchaseditems 53, the e-commerce system 30 at 335 may proceed with finalizingthe order using other delivering processes such as shipment to ashipping address of the customer profile 32. Otherwise, the e-commercesystem 30 at 340 collects information from the customer regarding thevehicle 66 which will be used during the curbside pickup. For example,the e-commerce system 30 via a computing device 70 may present thecustomer with a form that permits the customer to select a year, make,model, and color of the vehicle 66 to be used during the curbsidepickup. The form may further provide an option that permits the customerto save the vehicle information to the customer's profile 32. By savingvehicle information to the customer profile 32, the e-commerce system 30during future purchases may present a form which permits the customer toselect previously saved vehicle information and which permits thecustomer to add further vehicle information to the customer profile 32.

The e-commerce system 30 may then finalize the order at 345. Forexample, the e-commerce system 30 may verify that the store 50 fromwhich the customer wishes to pickup the purchased items 53, verifyavailability of all purchased items 53 from the selected store 50,verify and/or execute payment for the purchased items 53, verify billingaddress of the customer, verify shipping address for any items to beshipped, etc. The e-commerce system 30 may provide the customer withinstructions for picking-up the purchased items 53 from the selectedstore 50 as well as hyperlinks and/or other mechanisms for obtaining acopy a curbside pickup application 24 for aiding the customer and store50 with the curbside pickup process. For example, in one embodiment, thee-commerce system 30 may inform the customer via computing device 70that the purchased items 53 should be ready for pickup in less than 2hours, but that the customer should wait for an email notifying thecustomer that the purchased items 53 are available for pickup beforetraveling to the store 50.

At 350, the e-commerce system 30 may provide the customer with one ormore order confirmations. For example, the e-commerce system 30 maycause a web browser of the computing device 70 to display a receipt forthe purchased items and provide a link or other mechanism via which thecustomer may download and/or print the receipt. The e-commerce system 30may further email a receipt or an order confirmation to the customerusing an email address supplied during the checkout process or pulledfrom the customer profile 32.

At 355, the e-commerce system 30 may notify the MPU system 58 for theselected store 50 of the purchased items 53. Such notice permits one ormore MPU associates of the store 50 to gather the purchased items 53prior to the customer arriving at the store 50. Moreover, as explainedin more detail below, the store 50 may notify the customer when theorder is ready for pickup so that the customer may pickup the purchaseditems 53 without a lengthy wait at the store 50.

Referring now to FIG. 4 , a process 400 that may be implemented bymobile computing device 20 and/or the curbside pickup application 24 isshown. In the interest of clarity, the following process 400 isdescribed from the standpoint of the curbside pickup application 24performing various actions. The curbside pickup application 24 does notin fact perform such actions, but instead provides instructions whichconfigure and/or otherwise cause the mobile computing device 20 toperform the respective actions due to execution of such instructions ofthe curbside pickup application 24. Stating that software and/orfirmware modules, such as the curbside pickup application 24, performvarious actions is merely a manner of convenience that is in commonusage in the industry.

At 405, the mobile computing device 20 and/or the curbside pickupapplication 24 may receive a message or other notification confirmingthe purchase of items 53. As noted above, the e-commerce system 30 at350 may provide the customer with an order confirmation by, for example,sending an email using an email address associated with the customer.The mobile computing device 20 and/or the curbside pickup application 24at 405 may receive such order confirmation from the e-commerce system30. In some embodiments, the notification may inform the curbside pickupapplication 24 that an order ready notification is expected in the nearfuture. As such, the curbside pickup application 24 may alter itsoperation and/or the operation of the mobile computing device 20 inanticipation of the to-be-received notification that indicates the orderis ready for pickup. For example, the curbside pickup application 24 mayadjust the frequency at which email is checked, adjust power managementfeatures, and/or adjust other operating characteristics associated withreceiving the notification.

At 410, the curbside pickup application 24 may determine whether anotification that the purchased items 53 are ready for curbside pickuphas been received. In some embodiments, the MPU system 58 of theselected store 50 may send a notification to the curbside pickupapplication 24. For example, the MPU system 58 may use an addressassociated with the customer to send or otherwise provide an emailmessage (e.g. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) message), a textmessage (e.g., a Short Message Service (SMS) message), a pushnotification (e.g., Apple Push Notification Message), an instant message(e.g., Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) message), orsome other form of message that the purchased items 53 of their orderare ready for curbside pickup at the selected store 50.

If the notification has yet to be received, the curbside pickupapplication 24 continues to wait for the notification at 410. Otherwise,the curbside pickup application 24 proceeds to 415 to determine whetherthe customer's mobile computing device 20 and therefore the customer arewithin a specified vicinity or within a pickup zone 62 of the store 50.In particular, the curbside pickup application 24 and/or the MPU system58 may define the pickup zone 62 using various techniques. For example,the curbside pickup application 24 may determine that the mobilecomputing device 20 is within the pickup zone 62 in response todetecting a short range signal from the MPU system 58 or detecting sucha short range signal is above a threshold level. In other embodiments,the curbside pickup application 24 uses global positioning capabilitiesof the mobile computing device 20 to determine the global position ofthe mobile computing device 20. The curbside pickup application 24 maythen compare the determined global position to a specified pickup zone62 for the store 50 to determine whether the mobile computing device 20is within the pickup zone 62 of the store 50.

If the curbside pickup application 24 determines that the mobilecomputing device 20 is not within the pickup zone 62 for the store 50,then the curbside pickup application 24 may continue to monitor thelocation of the mobile computing device 20 with respect to the pickupzone 62 at 415. Otherwise, the curbside pickup application 24 at 420generates a notification that requests whether the customer wants toinitiate the curbside pickup process. The customer may be in thevicinity of the store 50 for reasons other than picking-up the purchaseditems 53. By requesting the customer whether to initiate the process,the customer does not feel obligated to pickup the items 53 when nototherwise prepared. Moreover, MPU associates of the store 50 do notwaste time trying to deliver items 53 to customer's which were falselyidentified as being in the pickup zone 62 or who otherwise have nointention of picking-up the items 53 at the present time. As such, thenotification presented at 420 may be beneficial to both the customer andthe store 50.

If the customer at 425 declines to initiate the curbside pickup processor ignores the notification at 420, the curbside pickup application 24at 430 may remove the presented notification and wait before returningto 415. In one embodiment, the curbside pickup application 24 may wait apredetermined or customer specified time before returning to 415. Bywaiting, the curbside pickup application 24 may prevent the continualpresentation of the notification at 420 while the mobile computingdevice 20 is in the pickup zone 62 but the customer does not wish toinitiate the curbside pickup. In another embodiment, the curbside pickupapplication 24 may wait until it determines that the mobile computingdevice 20 has left the pickup zone 62 before returning to 415. In thismanner, the curbside pickup application 24 may present the notification420 a single time each time the customer enters the pickup zone 62.Other schemes of intelligently presenting the notification at 420without nagging the customer with continual notifications are possible.

If the customer at 425 elects to initiate the curbside pickup process,the curbside pickup application 24 at 430 may send a notification to theMPU system 58 that informs the MPU system 58 that the customer intendsto pickup the purchased items 53 and that a MPU associate should gatherthe items 53 and be prepared to deliver such items 53 to the customer.The curbside pickup application 24 may use an address associated withthe MPU system 58 of the selected store 50 to send or otherwise providean email message, a text message, a push notification, an instantmessage, or some other form of notification that informs the MPU system58 that the customer wishes to initiate curbside pickup.

The curbside pickup application 24 at 440 may initiate and present thecustomer with a timer in response to initiating the curbside pickupprocess at 425. In one embodiment, the curbside pickup application 24presents a timer which counts up and therefore represents the passage oftime since initiating the curbside pickup process at 425. In anotherembodiment, the curbside pickup application 24 presents a timer whichcounts down from a guaranteed or targeted deliver time. In such anembodiment, the store 25 may have a policy of delivering the purchaseditems 53 to the customer's vehicle 66 within a specified period of time(e.g. 5 minutes) from initiating the curbside pickup process at 425. Thetimer in such an embodiment therefore depicts the time remaining fordelivery. In some embodiments, the store 50 may provide the customerwith some form of compensation if the MPU associate is unable to deliverthe purchased items 53 in the allotted time. For example, the store 50may provide the customer with a coupon, store credit, a refund, partialrefund, and/or some other form of compensation in an attempt toincentives customers to use their services.

The curbside pickup application 24 at 445 may further provide thecustomer with content targeted at the customer, additional pickupinstructions, and/or other information received from the MPU system 58while the customer awaits delivery of the purchased items 53 to theirvehicle 66. In some embodiments, the targeted content may includecoupons, discounts, incentives to purchase items, videos, clips, audio,video, and/or textual messages, offers, sweepstake and/or other contestopportunities, social engagement options such as posting aspects of theorder to social networking environments (e.g., community maintained bystore 50, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Moreover, the MPU system 58 maycustomize the targeted content based on the customers profile 32,purchased items 53 of the present order, and/or previously purchaseditems 53.

After receiving the items 58 and finalizing the purchase, the curbsidepickup application 24 at 450 may receive and present a notification fromthe MPU system 58 confirming completion of the order. Such notificationmay include additional information regarding the order such as rewardpoints earned as a result of the purchased items 53 as well asapplicable warranty information, rebates, and/or offers for relateditems 53.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , a process 500 that may be implemented by theMPU system 58 is shown. As noted above with respect to FIG. 3 , thee-commerce system 30 at 355 may notify the store 50 of the items 53purchased by the customer. At 505, the MPU system 58 may receive suchnotification from the e-commerce system 30. In response to suchnotification, the MPU system 58 at 510 may instruct one or more MPUassociates to ready the purchased items 53 for curbside pickup. In oneembodiment, each MPU associate has a computing device 70 such as atablet, smartphone, or other portable computing device. The MPU system58 may therefore instruct one or more MPU associates via theirrespective computing devices 70 to gather the purchased items 53 andready them for curbside deliver. In particular, the MPU associates maygather the purchased items 53 and place the gathered items 53 indesignated areas, lockers, bins, etc. located near a curbside pickuplocation 64 of the store 50. Such gathering and storing in designatedareas, lockers, bins, etc. may enable quick retrieval of the items 53once the customer's vehicle 66 arrives at the curbside pickup location64.

At 515, the MPU system 58 may receive notifications from the MPUassociates via their respective computing devices 70 that the items 58for the order have been gathered and readied for curbside deliver. TheMPU system 58 at 520 may determine, based on notifications received fromthe MPU associates, whether all items 58 of the order are ready forcurbside pickup. If one or more items 53 are not yet ready, the MPUsystem 58 may return to 515 to receive additional notifications from theMPU associates. Otherwise, the MPU system 58 may notify the customerthat the items 53 of their order are ready for curbside pickup. Asexplained above with respect to 410 of FIG. 4 , the MPU system 58 mayuse an address associated with the customer to send or otherwise providean email message, a text message, a push notification, an instantmessage, or some other form of notification that informs the curbsidepickup application 24 of the customer's mobile computing device 20 thatthe purchased items 53 of their order are ready for curbside pickup atthe selected store 50.

As noted above with respect to 430 of FIG. 3 , the curbside pickupapplication 24 may send or otherwise provide the MPU system 58 with anemail message, a text message, a push notification, an instant message,or some other form of notification that informs the MPU system 58 thatthe customer wishes to initiate curbside pickup. Accordingly, the MPUsystem at 530 may determine whether a notification to initiate curbsidepickup for a readied order has been received from a curbside pickupapplication 24. If the MPU system 58 determines that such a notificationhas not been received, then the MPU system 58 may wait at 530 until sucha notification is received.

In response to determining that such a notification has been received,the MPU system 58 at 535 may notify one or more MPU associates viarespective computing devices 70 to deliver the items 53 to the customer.In one embodiment, the MPU system 58 may provide such notification viaan email message, a text message, a push notification, an instantmessage, or some other form of notification that instructs the MPUassociate to deliver the items 58 to the customer's vehicle 66 at acurbside pickup location 64. In particular, such notification mayidentify the items 58 to be delivered, a location (e.g., designatedarea, locker, bins, etc.) from which the items 58 may be retrieved, acurbside pickup location 64 to which the items 58 are to be delivered,as well as a description of the customer's vehicle 66 to which the items58 are to be delivered.

While the MPU associates deliver the items 58 to the curbside pickuplocation 64, the MPU system 58 at 540 may provide targeted content tothe customer via the curbside pickup application 24 As noted above withrespect to 445, the targeted information may include coupons, discounts,incentives to purchase items, videos, clips, audio, video, and/ortextual messages, offers, sweepstake and/or other contest opportunities,social engagement options such as posting aspects of the order to socialnetworking environments (e.g., community maintained by store 50,Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Moreover, the MPU system 58 may customize thetargeted content based on the customers profile 32, purchased items 53of the present order, and/or previously purchased items 53.

At 545, the MPU system 58 may determine whether the items 58 have beendelivered to the curbside location 64. In one embodiment, the MPUassociates verify the identity of the customer prior to handing theitems 58 over to the customer and/or loading the items 58 in thecustomer's vehicle 66. To this end, the MPU associates confirm that thevehicle 66 matches the description of the vehicle provided by the MPUsystem 58 via their computing devices 70. Moreover, the MPU associatesswipe the credit card or debit card used by the customer to purchase theitems 58. The computing device 70 may verify whether the swiped cardmatches the card used to purchase the items 58. The MPU associates mayfurther require that the customer provide a picture identification cardsuch as a driver's license and verify that the name on theidentification card matches the name on the ordered items and that thepicture on the identification card matches the customer. In response tothis verification process, the MPU system 58 may receive one or moreconfirmations and/or other messages from the MPU associates anddetermine at 545 whether delivery of the items 58 to the curbside pickuplocation 64 has been completed.

In response to determining that delivery has been completed, the MPUsystem 58 at 550 may finalize the purchase and notify the customer thatthe purchase is complete. In particular, the MPU system 58 may finallysubmit the customer's credit card information to a card processingservice for reimbursement. Moreover, the MPU system 58 may send thecurbside pickup application 24 of the customer a notification confirmingcompletion of the order. Such notification may include additionalinformation regarding the order such as reward points earned as a resultof the purchased items 53 as well as applicable warranty information,rebates, and/or offers for related items 53.

The processes of FIGS. 3-5 were described above with respect to acustomer picking-up items at a curbside location 64. Aspects of suchprocess, however, may be generally applicable to picking-up items from astore. In particular, aspects of the above process may be suitable foruse in a system where items are not picked-up from a curbside locationexternal to the store 50 but instead are pickup from a pickup location,customer service counter, or other location within the store 50.

The processes of FIGS. 3-5 were mainly described from the perspective ofcompletely delivering items 53 to a customer at a curbside location 64.Despite a customer requesting pickup and having a vehicle 66 at thepickup location 64, situations may still arise where delivering items 53is not feasible. For example, one or more items 53 may not fit in thecustomer's vehicle 66 due to the customer underestimating the size of alarge item 53 (e.g., a 70″ television) or the overall size of theordered items 53. The customer may, therefore, need to return with alarger vehicle 66 or pickup the items 53 across multiple trips. In suchsituations, the curbside pickup application 24 and/or a computing device60 of a MPU associate may permit a partial delivery and mark remainingitems 53 for another pickup.

In some embodiments, the customer may purchase one or more items 53 thatare not currently in stock at the store 50. As the items arrive at thestore 50, the MPU system 58 may inform the curbside pickup application24 of the arrived items 53. The customer may then elect to curbsidepickup the available items 53 in a manner similar to the processesdepicted in FIGS. 3-5 or elect to wait until all items have arrived.Regardless, the MPU system 58 may reserve such items 53 until at leastall items of the order have arrived. In this manner, the customer mayaccept partial delivery of certain items 53 via curbside pickup withoutnecessarily awaiting the arrival of all items.

The above curbside pickup process provides much flexibility to customerand the store 50. In particular, the processes of FIGS. 3-5 do notrequire the customer to schedule a particular time for picking-up theitems 53. As such, the customer may pickup the items 53 when convenientto the customer. Moreover, such moment of convenience may have beenunplanned or unforeseeable at the time of placing the order since it'snot uncommon for a customer's plans to change without notice. At thesame time, the store 50 does not need to schedule pickup times,reschedule missed pickups, or otherwise waste employee time waiting forcustomers that are either late for a pickup or miss their allottedpickup time all together.

Various embodiments of the invention have been described herein by wayof example and not by way of limitation in the accompanying figures. Forclarity of illustration, exemplary elements illustrated in the figuresmay not necessarily be drawn to scale. In this regard, for example, thedimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to otherelements to provide clarity. Furthermore, where considered appropriate,reference labels have been repeated among the figures to indicatecorresponding or analogous elements.

Moreover, certain embodiments may be implemented as a plurality ofinstructions on a tangible, computer readable storage medium such as,for example, flash memory devices, hard disk devices, compact discmedia, DVD media, EEPROMs, etc. Such instructions, when executed by oneor more computing devices, may result in the one or more computingdevices performing various aspects of the processes depicted in FIGS.3-5 .

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment or embodiments disclosed, but that the presentinvention encompasses all embodiments falling within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is: 1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method, the methodcomprising: via a mobile computing device: receiving an orderconfirmation for an item; receiving an indication that the item is readyfor pickup; determining a current location of the mobile computingdevice; determining that the current location of the mobile computingdevice corresponds to a predefined pickup zone for the item; inquiringwhether a user of the mobile computing device desires to initiate apickup of the item; and one of initiating the pickup of the item ordeclining the pickup of the item, wherein the pickup is automaticallydeclined if the user fails to respond to the inquiry after spending apreset amount of time in the predefined pickup zone.
 22. The method ofclaim 21, comprising: initiating a timer that reflects an elapse of timesince entering the predefined pickup zone; and presenting the timer viathe mobile computing device.
 23. The method of claim 21, comprising:receiving content targeted to a customer associated with the item forpickup in response to initiating the pickup; and presenting the targetedcontent via the mobile computing device.
 24. The method of claim 21,comprising: receiving pickup instructions in response to requestingpickup; and presenting the instructions via the mobile computing device.25. The method of claim 21, comprising: receiving an order confirmationfor the item; and altering one or more power management features of themobile computing device in response to receiving the order confirmation.26. The method of claim 21, wherein the determining whether the currentlocation of the mobile computing device corresponds to the predefinedpickup zone, comprises: monitoring, with the mobile computing device, aglobal location of the mobile computing device; and comparing, with themobile computing device, the global location of the mobile computingdevice to the predefined pickup zone.
 27. The method of claim 21,wherein the determining whether the current location of the mobilecomputing device corresponds to the predefined pickup zone, comprises:receiving, by the mobile computing device, a short range signaltransmitted from the store, wherein the short range signal iscommunicated according to one of an NFC protocol, a Bluetooth protocoland a WiFi protocol; and determining, by the mobile computing device,the current location of the mobile computing device corresponds to thepredefined pickup zone based on receipt of the short range signal fromthe store.
 28. A computer readable storage device comprising a pluralityof instructions, that in response to being executed, cause a mobilecomputing device to: receive an order confirmation for an item; receivean indication that the item is ready for pickup; determine a currentlocation of the mobile computing device; determine that the currentlocation of the mobile computing device corresponds to a predefinedpickup zone for the item; inquire whether a user of the mobile computingdevice desires to initiate a pickup of the item; and one of initiate thepickup of the item or decline the pickup of the item, wherein the pickupis automatically declined if the user fails to respond to the inquiryafter spending a preset amount of time in the predefined pickup zone.29. The computer readable storage device of claim 28, wherein theplurality of instructions cause the mobile computing device to: initiatea timer that reflects an elapse of time since entering the predefinedpickup zone; and present the timer.
 30. The computer readable storagedevice of claim 28, wherein the plurality of instructions cause themobile computing device to: receive content targeted to a customerassociated with the item for pickup in response to initiating thepickup; and present the targeted content.
 31. The computer readablestorage device of claim 28, wherein the plurality of instructions causethe mobile computing device to: receive pickup instructions in responseto requesting pickup; and present the instructions.
 32. The computerreadable storage device of claim 28, wherein the plurality ofinstructions cause the mobile computing device to: receive an orderconfirmation for the item; and alter one or more power managementfeatures of the mobile computing device in response to receiving theorder confirmation.
 33. The computer readable storage device of claim28, wherein the plurality of instructions cause the mobile computingdevice to: monitor a global location of the mobile computing device; andcompare the global location of the mobile computing device to thepredefined pickup zone.
 34. The computer readable storage device ofclaim 28, wherein the plurality of instructions cause the mobilecomputing device to: receive a short range signal transmitted from thestore, wherein the short range signal is communicated according to oneof an NFC protocol, a Bluetooth protocol and a WiFi protocol; anddetermine the current location of the mobile computing devicecorresponds to the predefined pickup zone based on receipt of the shortrange signal from the store.
 35. A system, comprising: an applicationstored on a physical memory of a mobile computing device, wherein theapplication is executed by a processor that configures the mobilecomputing device to: receive an order confirmation for an item; receivean indication that the item is ready for pickup; determine a currentlocation of the mobile computing device; determine that the currentlocation of the mobile computing device corresponds to a predefinedpickup zone for the item; inquire whether a user of the mobile computingdevice desires to initiate a pickup of the item; and one of initiate thepickup of the item or decline the pickup of the item, wherein the pickupis automatically declined if the user fails to respond to the inquiryafter spending a preset amount of time in the predefined pickup zone.36. The system of claim 35, wherein the processor configures the mobilecomputing device to: initiate a timer that reflects an elapse of timesince entering the predefined pickup zone; and present the timer. 37.The system of claim 35, wherein the processor configures the mobilecomputing device to: receive content targeted to a customer associatedwith the item for pickup in response to initiating the pickup; andpresent the targeted content.
 38. The system of claim 35, wherein theprocessor configures the mobile computing device to: receive pickupinstructions in response to requesting pickup; and present theinstructions.
 39. The system of claim 35, wherein the processorconfigures the mobile computing device to: receive an order confirmationfor the item; and alter one or more power management features of themobile computing device in response to receiving the order confirmation.40. The system of claim 35, wherein the processor configures the mobilecomputing device to: monitor a global location of the mobile computingdevice; and compare the global location of the mobile computing deviceto the predefined pickup zone.
 41. The system of claim 35, wherein theprocessor configures the mobile computing device to: receive a shortrange signal transmitted from the store, wherein the short range signalis communicated according to one of an NFC protocol, a Bluetoothprotocol and a WiFi protocol; and determine the current location of themobile computing device corresponds to the predefined pickup zone basedon receipt of the short range signal from the store.